Macau wants 60% of GDP to come from non-gaming

Macau’s chief executive says the government will focus its diversification efforts on four key sectors.

Macau.- Ho Iat Seng, Macau’s chief executive, has said that one of his administration’s main goals is to ensure that non-gaming accounts for 60 per cent of Macau’s GDP in the future. During his policy speech for 2023 at the Legislative Assembly, he emphasised the government’s promotion of the healthcare, finance, technology and sports and culture sectors.

Ho Iat Seng said the government will focus its diversification efforts on these four sectors, with each to account for at least 15 per cent of the city’s GDP. He added that Macau’s economic transformation would take time and hard work and stressed that the city must innovate.

Macau casino operators have reportedly been told to invest up to US$12.4bn over 10 years in non-gaming initiatives. Nevertheless, Ho Iat Seng said that the gaming industry would continue to be important to the city.

Despite the industry being hugely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic for almost three years, the chief executive expressed confidence in its future prospects and urged the public not to believe negative media reports.

He said: “Gaming is always the main source of our economy, and it once made up for more than 60 per cent, about 60 per cent to 79 per cent of the city’s GDP. This figure is adjustable.”

Macau’s GDP rose by 18 per cent year-on-year in 2021. For the full-year 2020, the economy had shrunk by 56.3 per cent in real terms. Gross gaming revenue for the first ten months of 2022 combined stands at MOP35.72bn, down 50.5 per cent year-on-year.